Fired! (Demand Studios Sucks)

Just in from my content-mill client Demand Studios:

Hello Steven,
As you know, we conduct regular quality audits to ensure that article voice and content match the requirements of the section. During the course of our most recent audit, we found that many of your articles did not demonstrate the authoritative voice, professional level of expertise, composition quality and appropriate content focus required for writing in this section. This is at odds with the standards and expectations of the project, and for this reason we have removed your Chron.com permissions, effective immediately.
This decision is final. You will be able to finish all of the Chron.com titles that are already in process; however, other Chron.com claimed titles will be returned to their respective title pools. Please contact us through the Help Desk if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
The Demand Media Editorial Team

I guess after more than three years of writing for them I suddenly suck.

It's a great relief to lose this client--they are the only freelance client I've ever had that does not pay a kill fee for rejected articles.

This is only one reason why Demand Studios writers have created a web site entitled Demand Studios Sucks!

Where Were You in Summer 1969?

I was a 12-year old kid in Longmeadow, MA.

I've been thinking about doing a new graphic novel about Oaxaca, but if I started it today, this would be the first panel.

It's a template drawing about an amazing pack of kids reaching puberty and tearing up the woods, farmlands and suburbs on their mini-bikes.

Radio Insecto plays Big River

Radio Insecto played La Jicara in Oaxaca last night. Although we were plagued by an equipment problem, we still got it going pretty good for a few tunes.
We nailed a pretty decent cover of the Johnny Cash classic Big River, posted here on youtube.

Steve Lafler, guitar & vocal. Kazt, bass. Bill Stair, mandolin. Samuel Palome Aquino, drums.

Yes, I am in the main a cartoonist (something I'm actually good at), but playing and barking out a few tunes is, by and large, an insane amount of fun.

55th Birthday Art Show & Sale

I've posted some gorgeous Bughouse original art pieces from 1997 here.

I'm celebrating my 55th birthday with a showing of an eight page sequence.

Like most cartoonists (and chefs), I am very critical of my own work. I labored on Bughouse from 1993 to 2004. The result was a trilogy of graphic novels, almost 400 pages of comics. I went the extra mile to put my best foot forward and maintain a high level of craft, and here and there I was satisfied. Other times I'd look at the work and think it was lacking, a natural reaction for any serious artist.

From the present, I have to say I'm near astounded with Bughouse. It really shines. If you'd told me 15 years ago that I would write such an assessment, I'd be dubious, and maybe a bit appalled, but I stand by it.

With Bughouse, I created a singular, unique work in the history of comics that stacks up well with pretty much anything. A subjective statement, even audacious, but any opinion about comic art, all art, has a subjective element, so I'll just say it's true: Bughouse swings, baby!
I turn 55 tomorrow and I'm a happy man, some thirty plus years down the road as an auteur cartoonist.

These pages originally appeared in Bughouse #5 in June, 1997. They were reprinted in the Top Shelf graphic novel Scalawag in 2005. They are priced at $200 each. Of course, anyone who really digs the spread can buy all 8 pieces for $1200. These are potent, lyric works of comic art; a fine value for dedicated collectors.

Steve Lafler
503-213-3671

Dog Boy: One of the Best Comic Books in America

I first published Dog Boy #5 on my Cat-Head Comics imprint in September 1984. Back in the morning of alternative comics, I was exhilarated to get to a fifth issue out, slowing building an audience and gaining a toehold in the nascent indie/alt comics movement.
While the 5th issue continued my free-form improvisational approach, I also introduced the character Dr. Mainstream, a pastiche of super hero conventions.
At the time, there was a militant divide between mainstream and alt comics--I was squarely in the alternative camp, but felt like doing a super hero parody and indeed saw no problem with bridging the gap a bit.

Starting today, CO2 comics will reprint Dog Boy #5, posting a new page every Saturday. The cover is up today, along with the first 3 pages.
I highly recommend CO2, as founders Gerry Giovinco & Bill Cucinotta do a fantastic job of featuring comics on the web. The art looks excellent, reproduced in a large format, and the site is easy to navigate.
Click here to go to CO2 and read Dog Boy #5. Perhaps you will agree with critic Cat Yronwode, who in 1983 called Dog Boy "one of the best comic books in America".

New Painting: Witchcraft Shack

My latest Oaxaca painting is Witchcraft Shack. Story of this painting is here on my painting blog.

My New Oaxaca Painting Blog

In December of 1979, I took a BFA degree at UMass Amherst with a concentration in painting. Back then, as now, this degree plus a couple bucks got you a cup of coffee!

While I do indeed love painting, I've spent the ensuing 30 plus years as a cartoonist, pumping out an endless series of comic books and graphic novels.

Now, living in the sublime city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, I'm called to paint again. I'm going to cart my painting kit around town, looking for the odd juxtaposition of cool stuff that catches my eye. Don't expect beautiful scenes of splendor -- there are plenty of tourist brochures full of that!
Do expect odd scenes where the surreal details of Mexican life are underlined in bright colors.

I've started a new blog to post the paintings as I make them, called Steve Lafler Paintings. Did I mention I'll be selling the canvases? You bet! So keep your eyes peeled, art lovers!
This one above is called Calle Carranza, Old & New. It's a 9" x 12" acrylic.